


She's Only Sleeping

by sialynn



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Character Death, Coping with Death, Denial, F/F, Grief/Mourning, Loss, Suicide, or actually not at all coping with it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 20:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sialynn/pseuds/sialynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Krista dies in the Battle for Trost, and Ymir struggles to come to terms with her dear friend's death. With titans quickly approaching, can Armin save Ymir or will she be lost to her despair?</p>
            </blockquote>





	She's Only Sleeping

The Battle for Trost was not yet near being won. So many lives had already been lost, and many more would die. Armin was taking a moment to rest in a curretly titan-free area when something caught his eye on the street below. Krista and Ymir, sitting against the wall outside of someone's home. He swung down to the street and ran over to the girls there. As he neared he quickly realized that it was really only Ymir sitting in front of him. Her back against the wall and her legs stretched out in front of her, her face held a haunted expression. Krista's torso was lying across Ymir's lap, her eyes shut, her face contorted into a painful expression, and dried blood plastered on her lips, chin, and neck. Most noticeably, there was nothing left of Krista below her waist. Red tattered cloth just barely hid the gruesome wound where her body had been severed in half. 

"Ymir," Armin asked quietly, his voice shaking. 

"Shh," Ymir held a finger up to her lips. "She's taking a nap." She looked down at the girl in her lap and stroked her blood-soaked blonde locks.

"There will be titans here soon, Ymir," Armin grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up.

"No!" Ymir shrieked, yanking her arm away. "I won't leave until Krista wakes up. I have to protect her. She'll wake up and then we can fight together."

Armin looked around nervously. A titan could come staggering down the street at any moment, and then they would be as good as dead. Ymir's eyes were void of any emotion as she stared down at Krista's pale face. 

"Ymir, Krista is dead," Armin told her.

"She's only sleeping," Ymir insisted.

"We can't stay here."

"Krista will wake up soon. Then we can leave." 

"Krista isn't going to wake up!" Armin shouted at her. He was becoming more and more desperate to get Ymir to move with each passing second. He could hear titans in the distance and the ground was beginning to shake beneath them. Ymir's hands moved over her dead friend. Tears slowly welled in her eyes and fell onto Krista's face as she leaned over her. 

"Wake up, Krista, wake up," she whispered fervently. There was fear and hopelessness in her voice that only built as her pleading grew louder. "Krista, wake up! Krista!" Her palms tapped on Krista's cheeks and shook her shoulders. Her fingers pushed open her eyelids and pulled on her hair.

Armin suddenly froze. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a looming tower of flesh rounding the corner.

"Ymir," he barely breathed her name. They hadn't been spotted yet, but it was only moments until the titan would see them. "We have to go.  _Now_." 

" _Krista!_ " Ymir screamed, her arms wrapping tightly around Krista's torso. The titan saw them now. Its wicked grin only spread wider across the beast's pale face as it stretched out its arms and began stumbling towards them.

"We have to go!" Armin knew they already had almost zero chance of escaping. He pushed Ymir and Krista apart, slid one arm around Ymir's waist and aimed for the rooftops. He couldn't hear the rush of wind as the titan's hand closed around the space they had only just vacated, he couldn't hear much of anything over Ymir's screaming, but he knew just how close they had been to death. They had only just reached the rooftop when Ymir nearly snapped Armin's arm in half breaking out of his hold. She sprinted back towards the roof's edge, towards Krista, and towards the titan.

"Ymir! No!" Armin yelled. His hand shot out to grab her again, to hold her back, to save her, but his fingers only brushed the back end of her maneuver gear. He didn't see if she made it to the ground to see Krista one last time or if she was caught in the titan's grip before she even reached the bricks below, but he saw her limp body grasped in the titan's fist. It had crushed and killed her before she even reached the creature's ever-grinning maw. 

Armin didn't stay to watch her be eaten. He wouldn't die like she did. He ran to save his own life, but more importantly he ran so he could continue fighting and save other's lives.

 _"Krista, Ymir, everyone who we've lost,"_ Armin thought as he traveled quickly across the city, his heart pounding and his shirt soaked with cold sweat.  _"I'll keep fighting for you."_


End file.
